Bloodlines
by Muffy Morrigan
Summary: When Dean gets a call from an old friend he and Sam head to Arizona to investigate a possible haunting. Along the way Sam begins to suspect his brother might not have told him everything he needs to know. Hurt Dean
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural, just stopping by to play.

**Bloodlines**

Chapter 1

The phone was ringing insistently. It had stopped once, beeped to indicate someone had left a message, then a few minutes later it started ringing again. "Dude, get your phone," Sam said to his brother's back.

"I'm busy, if it bugs you so much, you get it," Dean said, continuing to rummage through his bag.

Sam picked up the phone "Hello?"

"Uh, um, hi," a female voice answered. "Is this Dean Winchester's number?"

"Yeah."

"Is he there?"

"Is he here?" Sam repeated. From across the hotel room Dean said, "Take a message."

Laughter from the other end of the phone, "Nice to know he's still Dean."

"I think she can hear you."

"She? Dude, then tell her I will get her number from the caller ID and call back later."

More laughter from the phone. "Before the king of commitment can get you to hang up on me or take a hit out on me, would you tell him it's Hilly? I need help. Tell him I am calling about Mary, I think she's in trouble, the kind of trouble he handles."

"She said it's Hilly," Sam said looking at his brother. Dean stood up and turned around. "She needs help and said she is calling about Mary, who is in our kind of troub…Dean?" Sam stopped. All the color had drained from his brother's face. He seemed to shake himself out of it and walked over. He took the phone from Sam.

"Hey," he paused, "Is she ok? Yeah, you still in the same place? Just checking, a lot can change in a year. Ok, we'll be there in the morning." Dean flipped the phone closed and looked at Sam. "Pack, we're leaving. It's going to be a long night. You drive first shift." He picked up his things, and before Sam could stop him he was out the door.

Four hours later Dean was fast asleep in the passenger seat and Sam quietly reached for Dean's phone. He scrolled through the phone book, he couldn't find a "Mary" but he did find two numbers for "Hilly" one said work, so he hit talk.

"Thank you for calling the Desert Observer the only alternative newsweekly serving the tri-state area. For news press 1, circulation 2, columnist John Young 3, columnist Hildergarde Owyn press 4…" Well that could be a Hilly, he pressed 4. "You have reached the desk of Hilly Owyn. I am out of the office, but if you leave a number…" The voice was the same, he flipped the phone closed.

He looked over and found his brother looking right back. "Find out what you wanted?" Dean said as he reached his hand out for his phone.

"Not really, no. You want to tell me what is going on?"

"She's an old friend, she needs help, we go."

"Another old friend, huh?"

"Shut up and pull over, my turn to drive."

The car slowing down woke Sam from a fitful sleep. Dean had pulled into gas station. He flipped his phone open and dialed. "Hey, it's me. We're about ten minutes from you, so you might want to get your lazy ass out of bed." He paused for the reply. "If I am up at six, you can be, too." Another pause, a laugh, "Yeah, well right back atcha."

Sam looked around, the soft light of pre-dawn colored the otherwise drab landscape around him. "Where are we?"

"About five minutes out of Kingman, Arizona."

"Can you tell me where we are going?" Sam asked studying his brother's face. Dean was tense, he could tell that much.

"We'll be there in a few minutes." 

"Can we get some coffee?"

"She'll probably have coffee when we get there."

"Dean, who is she?"

Dean looked over at his brother. Sam could tell he was struggling for the right thing to say—he took a deep breath, almost started to say something and shook his head. "I think it is up this street," he said turning into a residential neighborhood sporting the worst kind of Southwest style houses, cheesy adobe painted "desert colors."

Dean turned at the fourth house, as he pulled the car into the drive the front door opened. Sam saw a woman standing on the top step. Dean got out of the car and she walked down the path towards them.

"Hey," Dean said, casual and a little cold. Oh no, this is starting just great, Sam thought.

"Hey."

Dean stepped towards her and Sam was actually shocked when his brother pulled the woman into a tight embrace. She returned it. After a moment she pulled back to look at him, still in contact but far enough to see his face. "You look like shit."

"I drove all night, what's your excuse?" He said. She laughed and hugged him again. Sam cleared his throat.

Dean recovered. "Hilly, this is my baby brother, Sammy."

Sam extended his hand, "It's Sam"

"The infamous brother. Sam, it's a pleasure." She took his hand and then pulled him into a quick hug. "I'm glad you are here." She looked at both of them, "I set up a meeting with Mary's parents at 10, but that gives us time to have breakfast at The Hotel. I called Pete and he is firing up the grill early in your honor."

"Well, what are you waiting for? Tempt me with breakfast after a grueling night and then just stand there? Get your purse," Dean said. He wandered down to wait by the car, Sam trailed after him.

"Dean?"

"Not now Sam. Later. I promise." Dean said looking at him, then smiling as Hilly approached. Sam sighed, but a promise was a promise.

"Still have her?" Hilly said as Dean held the back door open for her.

"Of course, couldn't live without her, you know," he laughed. Dean pulled out of the driveway and headed back down the street. He patently knew where he was going, making turns without hesitation or prompting from Hilly, who was sitting quietly in the back seat, singing with the music.

"You still listen to this crap?" She said.

"You're the one singing back there. At least it's not World Music."

"One Enya CD, just one, and I got it for review, and I never get to live it down?"

"Yeah, and your point is?"

She laughed and smacked his head.

After winding through the town, Dean pulled up in front of an older building with a large, horrifically gaudy neon sign "The Haunted Beale Street Hotel, Café and Gift Shoppe" the sign actually had a neon ghost floating up and down on it.

"With a sign like that, they better have good food," Sam said getting out of the car.

"The best food," Dean said.

They were greeted by a large man in an amazingly dirty apron. He shook Dean's hand so hard it looked like it hurt. "Great to see you! Breakfast is on the house." Dean introduced Sam and they sat down.

A pretty waitress in a faux saloon girl outfit waited to take their order. She stood by the table while Sam glanced at the menu—Dean and Hilly had already ordered. "Just order the steak and eggs. He'll have the steak and eggs," Dean said to the waitress. She nodded, apparently approving his choice and brought the coffeepot to fill their cups.

"I should have let you two shower and shave before dragging you out to breakfast," Hilly said. "You look like you slept in your clothes."

"We did, but food is more important. Especially this food. You know I have hallucinated about this food," Dean said.

"Did it ever occur to you that you hallucinate because you live on M&Ms and grease?" Sam asked.

"Food of the gods."

"Food of the heartburn gods," Hilly interjected. "You still eat like that? One would think you'd grow out of that."

"One would think so, wouldn't one," Dean shot back.

"One would."

Sam looked from one to the other. They were obviously friends, even close friends, but there was none of the tension he had sensed the last time he and his brother had helped "an old friend" of Dean's. They were comfortable together. It made Sam a little uncomfortable, it just didn't seem like Dean.

The banter continued as they were served, as they ate and as they sat drinking their coffee. They included Sam in the conversation, but he felt like he had come into the movie halfway through.

"Tell me what's going on," Dean said suddenly.

"Katherine called me about a week ago, she said since they moved into their new house Mary has been terrified to go to sleep. She claims there is something in the closet that visits her at night and says it is going to take her away or something. She refuses to sleep in her own room now, and has been sleeping in her parents bed," Hilly said.

"How old is Mary?" Sam asked 

That got him a long appraising look from Hilly, "You don't know?" She looked at Dean and Sam caught a slight head shake, "Really?" Nod. "Sorry," she said laying her hand briefly on Dean's arm, then turned back to Sam. "She's about four."

"And you think there is something supernatural going on?" Sam said.

"Yep, it's why I called Dean. I thought if anyone could figure it out, he could and now I have two for the price of one!" She grinned at Sam. "If you two are finished, though we might want to get going, they live in the valley and it is a good half hour drive out there."

It was closer to forty minutes later that they pulled up in front of an enormous house. "Wow," Dean said.

"Yeah, they just built it and moved in. He is the builder/designer for this whole development, so they got the pick of the litter." Hilly said as they walked up a long winding path to the front door. She rang the bell.

A woman who looked to be in her early forties opened the door. "Hilly, it's good to see you, and Dean! What a surprise."

"I called Dean when you told me what was going on, he's the expert, you know."

"I remember of course," she said and looked pointedly at Sam.

"This is my brother, Sam," Dean said. "Sam, this is Katherine Terry."

"Please come in," she led them through the house to a small den that opened up on the back yard. "Jim will be right here and then we can talk a little. This really has us flustered. I didn't think anything of it, really, until the other night when all the pictures came off the wall in Mary's room—all at once."

"Scared us to death," said a large man coming into the room. "Hilly, Dean! Thank you for coming. Knew we needed an expert, knew Hilly would know where to find one."

"She brought two, Jim. This is Sam, Dean's brother."

Jim sat down beside his wife and told the story Hilly had told them in the restaurant all over again. There was a little more to it, but it was essentially the same story. They thought it was nightmares, but had come to doubt that. When he finished Dean asked to see Mary's room. Katherine led them upstairs to a brightly painted room.

It was the perfect little girl's room, Sam thought. Pink with a princess theme. A picture of a bright-eyed child and a large dog sat on the desk. "That's Mary with her uncle's dog, Lobo."

"Thanks for showing us up her—we need to poke around a bit." Dean pulled out his EMF as Katherine left the room, it lit up like a Christmas tree, he looked at Sam with raised eyebrows. "Well, I guess she's not just having nightmares."

"We need to find out what it is," Sam said.

"A new house, though, isn't that kind of unusual for paranormal activity?" Hilly asked.

"Not always, we'll need to look into the property, and maybe the family a bit." Sam said peering at the walls, under the bed and in the extremely neat closet.

"You think family might have something to do with it?" She exchanged a long look with Dean.

"Probably not," Dean said. "We'll check out the property first."

They spent another fifteen minutes looking around the room, but could find nothing obvious. (What would be obvious anyway? Hilly had asked) They said their good-byes and headed back into town. Dean pulled into the parking lot at the library.

"I have to pop over to work for an hour or two, that should give you time to start a little research. Sadly a lot of the old stuff is still hard copy or microfiche only, no electronic access. I have Internet at the house, but you might have to do a bit of slogging here." She smiled at them and led them up to the reference desk. A gray haired woman sat behind the desk. "Hi Caroline, these are friends of mine, and they are helping me out with some research. Can you set them up?" Sam noticed how she didn't lie, but it wasn't quite the truth either.

"Of course, anytime dear."

She smiled at them and walked out of the library. "Let the fun begin," said Dean and they started asking for various items from the stacks.

"Hey," Sam looked up when Hilly approached some hours later. Dean was snoring softly in the chair next to him. "Find anything?"

"I have a couple of leads, I need to do some follow up online, but I can't take the books out of here."

"I'll fix that, be right back." She walked out of the reading room and over to the reference desk, Sam watched her talk to Caroline, cajoling, smiling and then she crossed her heart. She came back in. "Take the ones you want, leave the rest, we have them for two days." She kicked Dean's chair "Wakey, wakey sleeping beauty."

"Bite me," Dean said.

"Not now, we're in a library."

They were heading back to Hilly's house when she smacked Dean on the shoulder. "Pull into the grocery store."

"Why?"

"Because I have a brand new barbecue, there is no beer in the house and we probably should eat again today, don't you think?"

The three of them walked into the grocery store and stopped just inside the door. "I will get food, I don't trust what you'll bring back. You are in charge of beer."

"And tequila," Dean said.

"It's going to be one of those nights is it? I thought you were working."

"Alcohol fuels the mind." Dean said and turned to walk away.

"Dean, I know it is a little late, but don't forget the…"

"Way ahead of you. What do you think I am, dumb or something?"

"You really want me to answer that?"

Dean laughed and flipped her off and looked at his brother. "What are you staring at?"

"Who are you and where is my brother?" Sam asked, Dean grinned at him. "What aren't you supposed to forget?"

"This," Dean said pulling a $50 bottle of champagne off the shelf. He gathered up beer and, yes, a bottle of tequila, and walked towards the front of the store. Hilly was waiting for them.

"I got New York steak, is that ok?" She smiled, "And chips and salsa and salad and breakfast and more coffee, because judging by the amount of booze you just put in my cart, we will need the coffee.

Sam carried the groceries in when they got back and Dean brought their bags. "I put your stuff in the guest room, Sammy. I am going to grab a shower and fire up the grill. The office is last door on the left. I think I saw Hilly go in there if you want to use the computer or whatever."

Sam walked down the hallway and into the office. Hilly was sitting at the computer. "Hey, I'll be done in a sec."

"No problem," Sam said and walked to look at the framed articles on the wall. Next to these was an award plaque from the National Newsweekly Association for "Best Series: Through the Haunted West with a Demon Hunter." There were other articles—and awards—on the wall, including "Best New Syndicated Columnist." There were pictures too, Hilly with a rock star or two, a nice landscape shot and two of Dean, one a younger Dean and one that must be about a year—maybe a little more—old. Hmm, Sam thought.

"Ok, Internet is all yours," Hilly said rising. "You are welcome to my computer, or you can plug yours in, sorry no Wi-fi, I am in a hole, or so they tell me."

"I'll plug in, thanks." Sam said pulling his computer out of its satchel. Sam was sitting at the desk going through pages of development plans, maps and everything else he could think of when Dean walked it.

"Find anything?"

"Not yet, I might have a lead—but I need to chase it down a bit more. I emailed the county assessor's office. I hope they get back to me today, it's still early."

"Too early to start drinking?" Dean said with a smile.

"A little. Maybe we should eat first?"

"Hey," Hilly said coming into the office, she looked at Dean. "Katherine just called. She told Mary that you were here to help and she wants to tell you about it herself."

"Mary does?" Sam asked, Hilly had mixed up pronouns quite a bit.

"Yeah, I told Katherine we could meet them at the park in half an hour if it was ok with you."

Sam could sense the tension in Dean again. He couldn't put a finger on it. He didn't think it had anything to do with Hilly, so maybe it was Mary? Sam wasn't sure. "Well, dude, what do you want to do?"

"We go, I guess." Dean said walking out of the room. Sam and Hilly followed him.

They pulled up at the park within twenty minutes. Sam again noticed on the drive there that Dean seemed to know where he was going. Dean parked in a gravel lot and they walked across the grass towards the swing sets. Katherine Terry was standing under a tree watching the children play. They came up beside her.

"Thank you for coming. She just had to tell you herself. She was pretty excited about it. It's really the first time she has been herself since we moved."

"Uncle Dean!" Sam looked up as the girl jumped off the swings and pelted towards Dean. His brother squatted down so he could catch her as she threw herself in his arms. "You came!"

"Sure I did. As soon as your Aunt Hilly called."

"Good. Are you going to make her go away?"

"That's why we're here." He set her down and turned her towards Sam. "This is my brother Sam."

She stuck out a small hand, Sam looked down into moss green eyes and a freckled face. "Very pleased to meet you," she said solemnly shaking his hand. "Is Sam short for Samantha?"

Dean sniggered. "Not really," Sam said.

"My middle name is Samantha. Are you Uncle Dean's big brother?"

"Well I am bigger, aren't I?" Take that.

"Can I tell you about it now?" She asked looking up from one to the other.

"Sure," Dean sat down on the grass. Sam followed suit. Mary sat in front of them.

"It's scary," the child said. Dean nodded. "She came to my room the first night. She isn't nice. She said they killed her baby. Then she said she wanted to take me away so I could be her little girl. I was so scared," She looked at them, tears formed in her eyes, then they started running down her cheeks. "I told her I didn't want to go away and she said she would be back and take me away one night. I don't want to go away."

Sam waited for Dean to say something. He waited another beat and then said, as gently as he could "Dean and I won't let anything happen to you. We will make her go away."

Her face brightened and she awarded them both with a smile. "I know. I knew it would be ok as soon as mama told me." She reached over and patted Dean's knee the way you pat a dog. He smiled at her, she looked at Sam and smiled again and then stood up. "I want to swing some more." She looked slyly at Sam, "You are really tall, even taller than Uncle Dean, I bet you could push me really high!"

"Probably," Sam stood and let her lead him to the swing set. He could feel Dean watching them as they walked away.

_TBC_


	2. Chapter 2

**Bloodlines**

Chapter 2

Sam was back at the computer in Hilly's office an hour later. He was going through emails hoping someone had gotten back to him. Not much luck so far. The tantalizing smell of grilling steak was wafting through the window. He was starving. He closed his computer and walked out in the backyard. The evening was warm, but pleasant. Arizona hadn't heated up to its summer furnace temperatures.

"Just in time, Sammy. The steaks are just about done, and I think the table's set." Dean grinned at him and handed him a beer. "You managed to miss all the hard work."

"My plan all along," Sam said sitting in the chair by the grill. He stretched his legs out, watching Dean prod the steaks. "This sure beats where we usually stay," he said, leaving an opening for Dean to tell him what was going on.

He couldn't fool Dean with that tactic. "Sure is, even though I am expected to cook." He threw the steaks on a plate and headed into the house, Sam followed him.

They sat down at the table and Hilly pulled the bottle of champagne out of the 'fridge. She poured them each a glass. "Dean you want to do the honors?"

Dean lifted his glass, "Family and friends." Hilly raised her glass. "Family and friends," Hilly said. Sam chimed in and they all drank. Dean drained his in one gulp and reached for the bottle. Hilly laughed. "Most people don't drink this stuff like that."

"Have to get my fair share," Dean said.

"Sure, fair. I buy it, you drink it."

"If it was the other way around it wouldn't be nearly this good," Dean said.

"So true."

Sam looked at the two of them, sitting comfortably at the table. He couldn't take it anymore. "So, how did you two meet?" He tried to sound casual, just barely interested.

Hilly laughed at him. "He's almost as subtle as you are."

"Taught him everything I know."

"Poor thing," Hilly turned to Sam. "It was awhile ago. I had just started at the paper and there were these rumors that the old hotel downtown was haunted. Well, being an alt newsweekly they decided someone should cover it. That someone being the newest member of the staff. The night after I started working on the story someone was killed in the hotel. The police had no clues, I had a great story started and in walks this guy." She pointed at Dean. "I was poking around the hotel, trying to find something out and he turns up and flashes a badge in my face. It says KCI, and he says he's the Kingman City Inspector or something, except the bottom of the badge says 'Kellogg's Crisp Inspector'."

"Most people don't look that close," Dean said defensively.

"Yeah, I think you said that then, too. So, he tries another tactic, claims he's undercover for some government agency and then I think a reporter for the Arizona Republic and then something else."

"She didn't believe me for some reason."

"I have more than two brain cells," she said with a smile. "We kind of started working together and one thing led to another. Stop making lewd faces, Dean. We figured it out, Dean did the spirit in, the owner of the hotel—Pete—pledged undying gratitude and free meals for life and after one last night he rides off into the sunset on his trusty steed."

Sam looked from Dean to Hilly, there was more he knew it. "And?"

"He came back through town a few months later. I had some leave coming and I came up with the idea for that series in there—the demon hunter one—and the paper paid for a little trip."

"Yep, nice hotels, good food, all paid for by someone else."

"Like you ever pay for anything," she said with a snort.

"I occasionally pay with money." Dean smirked, "Rarely, but I have been know to pull out money."

"Unlikely," she said.

The rest of the meal was companionable. Sam was surprised when Dean shared some of their latest hunts. After awhile he relaxed and was laughing and swapping stories, too. He thought it might have something to do with the mixture of champagne, beer and tequila. Sam was glad to see Dean relax, he knew his brother hadn't really had a chance to relax very often lately.

When dinner was over, they all moved into the living room. Dean grabbed everyone a beer and they sat on the floor, continuing the conversation they had been having.

"So you let her go hunting with you?"

"Not really hunting, we went to a few ghost towns and stuff and she wrote about them."

"We stopped by Stanford, too," Hilly said. Dean shot her a sharp look.

"You did not," Sam said.

"We so did, dude. Took pictures to prove it. You were on some stupid break, so you weren't there," Dean said

"No way."

"Yep."

"I can prove it," Hilly said getting to her feet.

"Crap, now you've done it. Here comes the scrapbook. I'm salting and burning that thing next time."

"Ha ha," Hilly said sitting back down. She had a large scrapbook in her hands.

"Makes me gag every time you bring it out," Dean said. "I mean just look at it." Dean held it up, it was covered with frills and flowers and glitter. Dean sighed, "Dude, she thinks that's cute."

She laughed at him and opened the book. Sam noticed that she was very careful to skip the first ten or so pages. "Here." Sam looked down. There was Dean, a much younger Dean, smiling in front of Sam's dorm. "We took the picture to prove we were there. We were planning on stopping by again." The three of them sat together going through the book. For all his protests Dean seemed to be enjoying himself.

The alcohol and lack a sleep caught up with Sam about 9:30. He got unsteadily to his feet and headed towards the bedroom. He could hear Hilly and Dean laughing as he went to sleep.

The bedside clock said 3:15 when Sam woke up. The house was quiet. He got up, an idea had come to him in his sleep that he wanted to check out. He looked over at the other bed, he wasn't surprised to find it empty. The door to Hilly's bedroom was closed. Sam walked into the office and turned his computer on, then headed to the kitchen in search of a drink. The living room light was on. Dean was sitting on the couch looking at something.

"Hey," Sam said.

"Hey," Dean said. Sam saw him scrub a hand across his face. Sam stepped into the kitchen to give his brother a minute and grabbed a couple of sodas—he didn't think beer was a good idea. He walked back into the living room and dropped down beside Dean. He ignored the tear tracks on his brother's face. Dean still had the scrapbook.

"It's going to be ok, Dean." Sam said. "We'll figure this out."

"We always do."

"Yeah," Sam paused, he was about to wander out onto very unstable ground, but he wanted Dean to know. "Mary's going to come through this fine."

"How can you know that Sam? She's just a little kid."

Sam took a deep breath—don't let me screw this up, "Because she's a Winchester, Dean."

His brother looked up at him. "What?" He barely whispered.

"I'm right, aren't I? I saw it this afternoon." This was harder than he thought it would be. "Can you, will you, tell me about it?"

Dean noticed Sam's carefully chosen words. "The first part is pretty much how she told it. It was the second trip where it changes. I called her when I came back through town. She told me she had been unsure whether or not to call." He took a breath. "She hadn't told anyone who I was, you see. She told them she knew, but wouldn't give up my name. The adoption lawyers had been pressuring her, so when I called she just let it all out, she said she wasn't going to tell me even then, but I think it had been a bad day."

"Even then she wasn't going to tell you?"

"Some kind of honor, I think. She didn't want me to feel bad about it. She didn't. I told her I would stay until it was over, you know. It was only a couple of weeks at that point. I hung around a little longer. About a week after, Dad called and said he wanted me to go on this hunt he couldn't make, I didn't want to leave Hilly yet. It was kind of rough on both of us, so I took her along. Somewhere she came up with the idea for the series and convinced the paper to pay for it. We were together for about two months."

"Did you love her?"

Dean ran a hand through his hair. "Yes and no. Not romance, we had a good time together. The experience made us close, you know."

Dean flipped the scrapbook open. Sam looked down at the page Dean had opened to, Dean and Hilly smiling, obviously in a hospital. His brother was holding the baby. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"It's funny, but it's like this part of my life that only exists for three or four days a year, when I stop by. I know Hilly—and Mary—are out there, I just can't dwell on it."

"But Dean, why didn't you tell _me_?" Sam asked again. Silence. Dean had his head in his hands. "You thought I wouldn't understand."

Dean looked at him, "Most people don't, Sammy. They think you are an ogre for giving up your kid."

"Did Dad know?"

"He was one of the people who thought I was an ogre," Dean paused, Sam could hear the catch in his brother's voice. "It was coming up on her first birthday and I told Dad I wanted to swing through Kingman. Dad wanted to go on this hunt, but Hilly had called and said we—she and I—had been invited to the birthday party and, I kind of wanted to see Hilly again, and so I told Dad. It was a mistake."

"He didn't understand?"

"He was furious. He couldn't believe I hadn't told him, he couldn't believe I would let 'one of us' be raised by someone else. He said we couldn't protect her if she wasn't with us. It went on and on. I got a little upset. Actually I was pissed as hell. I didn't expect him to react that way" Dean was looking at the picture again.

"You did what was best, what was right, Dean."

Dean looked up at him. "You think so?" Unsure.

It broke Sam's heart to see his brother like this, thinking somehow Sam wouldn't understand, wouldn't back him up. "Yes. You wanted her to be safe, to have a normal life, the life we didn't get. Even if you had married Hilly, Mary's life wouldn't have been safe. It would have been our life, Dad and you and Hilly with a baby on the hunt. No, Dean, you gave her the greatest gift you could. You gave her a normal, happy, safe life." Dean's eyes were very bright.

"I did ask her, you know."

"To marry you?"

"Yep. She laughed at me," Dean smiled. "Nicely, but definitely laughed at me. She said people like us don't mix well over the long term in that kind of relationship. She was right, but I wanted to offer, to be a little…"

"Honorable? Noble?"

"Those were her words too, she called me Galahad for awhile. Actually two freaking months. Dude, it nearly drove me nuts." Dean laughed a little tremulously. "I come back, if I can, once a year for her birthday. Mary doesn't know who I am, of course, that's for later. When she's older." He paused again. "We named her. Hilly said she wanted to pick a first name, I got middle. Hilly's mother's name was Mary. She liked it was mom's name, too. I chose Samantha." He smiled at Sam.

"Thanks." Sam nudged him with his shoulder. "But Dean…"

"I wanted to tell you Sam, right when it happened. I tried to call you…"

"I didn't answer, did I?"

"Nope."

"It's why you came by Stanford."

"Yep. You weren't there. Hilly was disappointed, she wanted to meet you," Dean said. Sam could hear, unspoken, that his brother had been disappointed, too. "I thought you two would like each other. She's actually like you in a lot of ways. She's educated, tough, funny," Dean grinned maliciously at Sam. "She has really girly tendencies and she always wants to either talk or hug. She's even tried holding my hand!"

"Jerk."

"Bitch."

They sat together quietly for a minute. Dean leaned against Sam a little. "I almost told you after I was electrocuted. I'd called her to let her know what had happened…"

"You called her from the hospital?"

"Yep. I thought she deserved to know. She said she was coming out. I told her no, she said yes and it got a bit loud. She hung up on me. I was worried that she would show up at the hospital and have a little unplanned surprise party for you. I called her again from the motel room after you went to sleep to tell her you were taking me to a specialist," He paused and laughed.

"What?"

"The bitch was already halfway across New Mexico! She agreed to turn around and wait and see what the specialist said, but I kept an eye out for her the whole time!" He was laughing, the tension dissipating.

"It would have been a bit of a surprise."

"I'm actually surprised she has let you off this easily. She has been bugging me to tell you for years. Did you tell him Dean, did you tell him Dean, did you tell him Dean. Drives me nuts, every time she calls."

"Every time, dude?" Sam said with a raise of the eyebrows.

"We talk now and then," Dean said with a shrug. "She helps, sometimes, when I can't talk with you."

"Can't or won't?"

"Cute. Very cute, Sammy." Dean yawned and wiped his eyes. "I think the chick flick is about over. Can't keep my eyes open anymore." Sam sensed his brother's need to have the conversation over, he knew it had taken a lot for his brother to confess.

"Yeah, I was going to do some research, but I think I'll just sit here a minute, then crash, too. I can't really remember what I was going to do, anyway."

Dean smiled in understanding. "Thanks, Sammy."

Sam smiled at him and watched as he disappeared down the dark hall.

_TBC_


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: Thank you everyone for reading and reviewing. I would like to send a special thanks to the ever amazing SupernaturalGeek for her encouragement on this story--and a great title._

**Bloodlines**

Chapter 3

The sun streaming through the window woke Sam. He glanced over at the clock, 8:30. He knew he would never get back to sleep, so he got up and headed to the shower. When he was finished and opened the door, he could smell coffee.

"Hey," Hilly said as he walked into the kitchen. She handed him a cup of coffee before he could ask.

"Thanks," he said taking it.

"Dean's still asleep. He was up later than usual last night."

"Later than usual?"

"Yeah, no matter what he says we usually spend the first night with the scrapbook and he always stays up late afterwards."

"Really?" Sometimes his brother still surprised him.

"Really." She sat down at the kitchen table. Sam sat down opposite her. She was looking at him.

"What?"

"He told me he finally spoke with you about Mary," she was still looking at him.

"Yeah." The look made him a little nervous. What had Dean said about getting off easy so far?

"Thank you."

That caught him by surprise. "What for?"

"Understanding, acceptance, approval. It meant a lot to him. Means a lot to me, too," she smiled. "I wasn't really sure what I would do if you had reacted any other way. I have a problem with that, you see." She was laughing a little.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, he will so kill me for telling you this, but," she winked at him. "When Dean showed up for Mary's first birthday he and your father had just had a huge fight." Sam nodded. "He told you? Good. Anyway, he was pretty busted up and I was furious. I stole his phone and called your father."

"You did?"

"Hell, yeah. I left a message that probably raised blisters when he played it back. And he must have listened to it, because about half an hour later the phone rings and it's John. I wouldn't let Dean get it. Your father started out by yelling, but he didn't win that one," she grinned. "After minute or two there was just silence on the other end. I don't think he was used to people talking to him like that. Before he hung up I made him apologize to Dean."

Sam was laughing. "You did?"

"Oh, yeah. I don't know if he meant it, but Dean needed to hear it. I mean how dare he question our decision or try and make Dean feel guilty about it. How dare he! I wasn't going to let him get away with it."

Sam smiled at her, shaking his head. He felt a glow of affection for her—she cared enough about Dean to stand up to their father, not many people would. "He probably didn't know what hit him," he said with a laugh.

"Damn straight." She got up and grabbed the pot to refill their cups. "On a completely different note, I called one of my contacts down at the county and asked him to check out that development. "

"Think he'll find anything?"

"The guy is a total weasel. If there is anything to find, he will find it. He said he should have something by ten. You have any ideas?"

"I'm not sure. It seems like an angry spirit, with what Mary said, but why there? Why now?" He sighed. "Usually there is something to go on, but right now I just don't know."

"Don't know what, Sammy?" Dean said coming into the kitchen. "Thanks," he took the cup of coffee Hilly handed him.

"Don't know what's going on at Mary's house."

"I thought about that a lot last night. There has to be an answer."

"There always is," Hilly said. "And you always find it." She patted him on the back. "I'm going to check email, you could start breakfast."

"Is she leaving us alone for some reason?" Dean frowned and looked at Sam suspiciously. "What have you two been talking about?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing, Dean."

"Uh huh. Don't buy it."

"Why are you so freaked out?"

"I'm not freaked out at all, I just know the two of you and it could be a dangerous mix."

Sam sighed, Dean was not going to let this go, for some reason. "Ok. She said you told her you talked to me. She said she was glad I was ok with it."

"And?"

"She might have told me about when she called dad."

To Sam's surprise Dean laughed. "She told you about that? Dude, I would have loved to have seen his face when she was reading him the riot act. When he first called back I could actually hear him yelling at her. Then it was quiet and finally, I will never forget this, she said 'is there something you want to say to Dean? No? Well, if you don't, I will find you and make a pretty purse out of your skin, got it? Yeah? That's right.' and she hands me the phone and dad mumbles 'sorry' and hangs up. Man, I could not believe it." He shook his head. "She is utterly fearless sometimes. She'll just jump in with both feet, doesn't matter what's happening. It can be a problem occasionally." He said with a smile.

"It can be," Sam said. Dean looked at him quizzically "Dean? Dude, you don't see it? Of course you don't. Well, I sympathize with how you feel having dealing with someone like that."

"Fine, whatever," Dean said with a smile. "I'm making more coffee and I think I'll get breakfast started."

Sam watched Dean moving comfortably around the kitchen, making coffee, getting things out of the 'fridge for breakfast. It was nice to know that once a year Dean had a little slice of normal in his life. It doesn't take much normal to make your life less dismal, he thought.

"Have I got something for you!" Hilly said bouncing into the kitchen. "My contact got back to me…"

"The weasel?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, and check this out!" She handed Sam a small stack of papers. "Original archaeological survey, suppressed by the developer. When this is over I am so going to nail them in the paper."

"I don't believe it." Sam said rifling through the papers.

"What?" Dean asked.

"They found a cemetery it's on the original survey. On the reports I saw the cemetery was out of the development area. So, what happened to it?"

"The weasel is checking that out—he knows someone at the consulting firm that did the archaeological work. He said he would call in about 15 minutes. Wow, breakfast smells good," She turned to Dean. "I think I will make you cook all the time."

Hilly's phone rang while they were eating. "Yeah, really, you're kidding? What page? How much is this going to cost me? Ok. Thanks." She looked at Sam and Dean. "Funny what a little bribe will do. The weasel said one of the staff at the consulting firm 'arranged' to have the cemetery moved one night before they broke ground on the development. He said we should check the original survey maps, page 19."

Sam flipped through the pages. The original survey showed the cemetery on the north corner of the section. "I need to get those maps off your desk." Sam came back with the map in question. "The cemetery was originally right under the house where Mary now lives."

"So, is the spirit pissed because they moved her or did they leave something behind?" Dean said with a sigh. "Why don't people just have the good sense to salt and burn. It would make our lives so much easier."

"Most people don't want to salt and burn grandma," Hilly said.

"Most people are idiots," Dean replied.

"Well, that goes without saying," she said rolling her eyes. "Now, do we burn the whole cemetery or try and figure out who it is? It is research time?" She said with a grin.

"Yes, it is research time," Dean said. "You and Sam should get on it."

"Cute, what are you going to do?"

"Important stuff."

"Like take a nap?"

"A nap? I just got up. No, important stuff."

"Yeah, fine. Important stuff. Sam and I will get on the research."

Three hours later and Sam had gained a considerable amount of respect for Hilly's research skills. Between the two of them they had managed to uncover the names of almost everyone buried in the valley cemetery. Most of the names led no where. Sam was getting a little frustrated. Dean kept popping into the office to ask how things were going and then just shaking his head when he left. Sam wanted to throw a book at him. Or, even more annoying, he would come in and stand there, watching them. Which was what he was doing right then.

"Got something," Hilly said looking up from the book on her lap. "At least I think I do. Audrey Martins, died 1879. Her husband left her and took their daughter. The little girl died shortly there after. Her husband claimed he left because she was insane. She ended up hanging herself."

"Suicides make angry spirits, why do you think it is her?"

"Because she was buried just outside the cemetery. Typical of this area in the nineteenth century, suicides weren't usually buried in consecrated ground."

"They probably didn't get all of her when they moved the cemetery. We need to get out to where they moved it and check it out," Dean said.

"Uh, you think we should maybe wait until the sun goes down before we start digging up an historical landmark?" Hilly asked grabbing his arm before he could dash out the door.

Dean cleared his throat. "Yeah, that might be better. Good idea."

"Generous, thanks."

"Bite me."

"Not in front of Sam."

The sun had only just set over the desert mountains, but already the valley was bathed in darkness. Dean drove the Impala carefully over the dirt road, out to where the developer had moved the cemetery. He parked just outside the wooden fence. The three of them got out of the car.

"I still don't like the idea of you coming along," Dean said to Hilly.

"Drop the act."

"What act?"

"We settled this you-don't-get-to-come thing a long time ago. So stop it."

"You two want to get moving?" Sam said looking from one to the other.

Dean stalked off into the cemetery. Sam and Hilly followed. They went from gravestone to gravestone, looking for Audrey Martins. Dean found her in the corner.

"Let's get this over with," he said holding his hand out for the shovel Hilly was carrying. "Unless you want to dig?"

"I research, you dig."

Sam grabbed the other shovel and the two of them started digging. The ground was still soft from when it was moved, so the work went quickly. In a few minutes Sam's shovel hit something solid. They broke the coffin opened and poured salt on the remains. Dean dumped gas over all and lit a match.

"Hey wait," Hilly said jumping into the grave.

"What the hell are you doing?" Dean yelled.

"Hold on," she was looking in the coffin. "I think something's missing."

"What?" Sam dropped back into the hole.

"I am sure the records said she was buried with a locket that contained a lock of her hair and her daughter's hair. Where is it?" She was moving the remains around with the shovel. "She's missing part of her left leg, too. Femur."

"She's right, femur's missing, Dean."

"Let's burn this and worry about the leg and locket when that's done, ok?" Dean said.

"Good idea, help me out," Hilly said.

"You jumped in, you get out," Dean said with a grin.

"Bite me."

"Not in front of Sam." He did hold his hand out and gave her a lift out of the grave. Sam pulled himself out and Dean dropped a lighted match. The remains burned quickly as they stood watching.

"Hey, I think that's my phone," Hilly said reaching in her pocket. "What? Oh my god, we're on our way." She looked at them "That was Katherine, she's there, Audrey's there, and she's got Mary, they can't get to her!"

Dean didn't need to hear anything else, he was sprinting towards the car. Hilly and Sam were barely in the Impala when he slammed the car in gear and took off.

The Impala was careening down the dark road at breakneck speed. Sam looked over at Dean, his knuckles were white on the steering wheel. It looked like his jaw was clenched too, at the rate they were going it would only take three or four minutes to get to the development.

"Oh, my god!" Hilly said from the backseat.

"What?" Dean asked.

"Over the fireplace at Mary's. There is a picture or something—I think the locket is there."

"How can you know that?" Sam said.

"She knows, dude, she remembers things she's seen." He looked in the rearview mirror. "Are you sure."

"Pretty damn sure, sure enough to say it."

"Ok," Dean swung the car into the development. "When we get there, Sam you see if you can locate the missing grave."

"I'll get the locket," Hilly said.

"Hell, no. I'll get the locket, you stay out of that house."

"Who's going to help Mary, genius? That's what you need to do and if you open your mouth again I'll kill you. When this is over of course."

"She's right Dean. It's a good plan"

Dean pulled to a screeching stop. "I knew getting the two of you together was going to be a big mistake. " He opened the trunk, Sam grabbed the shovel, salt and gas. Hilly grabbed some salt and the bottle of lighter fluid. Dean stuffed shotgun shells in his pocket and grabbed the shotgun. He and Hilly ran towards the house and Sam headed to the corner of the property where he thought the original cemetery had been.

Sam was desperately trying to remember the maps he had been looking at that morning, trying to figure out where the north corner of the property was. He stopped. "I am so stupid," he said aloud. He looked up at the moon, got his bearings and headed towards the north side of the house. He was pretty sure he found the right place and started to dig. It didn't take long, the leg bone had been clumsily reburied about eighteen inches underground. He could hear screams and the shotgun from the house. He just dumped the salt and gas on the bone and torched it, turning he ran towards the house.

He could still hear Mary's screams and Dean's voice. The shotgun again. His brother shouted for Hilly as Sam ran through the front door.

"Sam, in here, I can't get it to burn—she's trying to stop me," Hilly yelled from the living room.

As badly as he needed to get to Dean, Sam knew they had to destroy the locket first. He looked at Hilly, there was blood on her face. She had the locket in her hands.

"I'm going to throw it into the fireplace, but you have to salt and burn it fast. I've tried twice and she's not happy about it," she said.

Sam nodded understanding. He picked up the salt and lighter fluid. "Ok, ready to go." She tossed the locket into the fireplace and Sam poured salt on it. Audrey suddenly appeared. She moved towards Hilly, Sam got the lighter fluid into the fireplace and threw his lighter in. The locket started to burn, Audrey disappeared in a burst of flame.

Sam took off for the upstairs, Hilly was just behind him. He stopped when he got to Mary's room. The child was kneeling beside his brother, patting his head and sobbing "Wake up, wake up." Sam ran over to them, Hilly picked up Mary and held her. Sam gently turned Dean over and felt for a pulse. There, there it was. He let out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding.

"He's alive," Sam said.

Katherine ran into the room and grabbed Mary from Hilly. Mary was still sobbing. "She wanted to take me, he wouldn't let her. He won't wake up." Over and over.

"Rescue is on the way, Sam. They should be here in a few minutes. You go with Dean. I'll bring the car," Hilly said.

"Thank you," Sam said. He was grateful that she understood his need to be with Dean. He could hear the helicopter as it approached.


	4. Chapter 4

**Bloodlines**

Chapter 4

Sam was staring at the doors in the emergency room. They had taken Dean back thirty-five minutes before and no one had come out. He would sit for a minute, then stand, then pace across the room, then sit again. The cycle took about 4 minutes. He had done it nine times now.

The door opened and a doctor came out, "Mr. Iommi?"

"Uh, yeah?" Sam said wondering where that name had come from.

"Your brother has a serious concussion, several broken ribs and pretty severe internal bruising," the doctor hesitated.

"And?"

"He needs emergency surgery to repair his knee. If we get to it in time he should make a full recovery."

"What else?" Sam could still sense the hesitation.

"Well, in his state surgery is dangerous, but if we don't get to the knee it could be permanently damaged."

"You need me to make a choice?" Sam said, already struggling with the decision.

"Paperwork says you are next of kin, and there is a medical power of attorney on record. I need a decision, the longer we wait, the less chance we have…"

Paperwork? Power of attorney? Where did that come from? He took a deep breath, "Ok, do the surgery."

"Someone will bring out the permission forms, but we'll take him up and get him prepped now."

"Thanks, doc." Sam watched him walk back through the door, hoping he had made the right choice. He sat down again. A minute later a hospital clerk came out with the forms. They were essentially filled out, there was insurance on record. Sam shook his head as he signed the forms. Where did that come from? When she left, he got up and paced across the room, and looked out the window. Please let him pull through this, I have had enough of hospitals to last a lifetime.

A gentle touch on his arm, he looked down, Hilly was standing there. "How is he?"

"They are taking him up to surgery. The doctor said if they didn't get to it soon, his knee would be damaged."

She gave a little snort, "I didn't even notice anything wrong with his knee, mostly what I saw was blood. Lots of blood."

"I didn't notice the knee, either."

"When did they take him up?"

"Just this minute," Sam said, looking back at the doors.

"I am going to go down to the espresso stand and get us some coffee. I'll meet you up in the surgery waiting room, it's on four." She squeezed his arm and headed down the hallway. Sam walked in the opposite direction, towards the elevators.

He was sitting in the small waiting room when a cup of coffee was held in front of him. "I got us lattes, don't tell Dean, I'd never live it down."

Sam smiled, "Keeping up the image?"

"Always." She sat down beside him. "They didn't bug you about paperwork or anything did they?"

"No, it was pretty strange. Usually it's fill this out, fill that out. Everything they brought was already filled out for Dean Iommi."

"You don't think that's too obvious do you?" She said with a smile. "I called the information in while I was coming back. I've had Dean on my insurance for years, just in case. Of course the big idiot won't take an insurance card. I have tried to give it to him more than once." She looked at Sam, "I'll make sure you have one before you leave, how's that?"

"I don't know…"

"Or would legit insurance cards make you nervous?" She was teasing him, Sam could tell she was trying to distract him.

"Well, legit insurance could lead to legit credit cards and then what?" He smiled at her.

"Yeah, it could only lead down a scary, disreputable path." Her smiled faded, "How long has it been?"

"Since we got here or since they brought him up?" That came out a little sharper than he intended, he thought. "Sorry. It's been about fifteen minutes since the doctor spoke with me about the surgery."

"Don't apologize, I understand."

"Funny thing, though," he said.

"What's that?"

"I'm not used to having someone to wait with. Lately it has been just me, waiting to see if he's going to be ok," he sighed.

"He'd better be ok, Sam. If he's not, I'll kill him and if he dies before I kill him, I will hunt his spirit down and give it a piece of my mind, then kill him." Her voice broke on the last, Sam looked over and tears were running down her face. He put his arm around her shoulders, she leaned into him. A moment later she was crying in earnest, not quite sobbing, but something very close. After a few minutes she sniffled and wiped her eyes with her sleeve. "Don't you dare tell him I was out here crying. I'll never live it down, I get enough grief about my moments."

"Me, too," Sam said.

"Oh, Sam, what if he…it would be my fault, calling him, getting the two of you involved."

"No, if something had happened to Mary and you hadn't called…"

"I know, he'd never forgive me—he's good at the grudge." She put her head on his shoulder. "I still feel like crap, you know?" She looked at him, "But you're right, he needed to know and he needed to come and he needed to be involved and being Dean, he needed to do whatever it was that got him here."

"You do know him fairly well don't you?" Sam said.

"Well enough to be glad you are with him now."

"What do you mean?"

"He needs someone to look after him, god knows he won't."

"We probably shouldn't tell him that, though," Sam said with a smile.

"Of course not, never have, never will."

Three hours later and Sam woke from a light doze, Hilly was asleep, still with her head on his shoulder. Still no word. He was sure if something bad had happened someone would have been out to talk with them. But the waiting was getting to be too much. He shifted, Hilly was instantly awake.

"Sorry, didn't mean to wake you."

"Stop with the apologies," she stretched. "How long is it going to take? Should I go get more coffee?"

"I don't think I…" he broke off, the doctor was striding down the hallway towards them. He stood up. "Doctor?"

"He came through the surgery ok. He's in recovery right now, we'll be moving him into a room in awhile. There is still a lot to contend with, but I can cautiously say I think he'll recover. You can wait in his room if you want. I think he's set to be in 214."

"Thank you," Sam said and turned to Hilly. He felt his eyes tear up, "He's going to be ok." It caught in his throat, she smiled, answering tears in her eyes and hugged him.

"He's going to be ok, or we kill him."

They walked to the elevators and then to Dean's room. It was a private room and far nicer than Sam was used to. "You must have good insurance."

"I'd better have, for what I pay." She looked at the two chairs set beside the bed. "At least these are comfortable. When we were on our trip together, I spent a night in a hospital room that only had this tiny hard chair. By the time Dean was released the next day I was in worse shape than he was."

"I know that feeling," Sam laughed in sympathy.

The door opened and Dean was wheeled in. Sam stood by Hilly. Dean looked terrible, his head was bandaged, his leg was bandaged and it looked like there might be a drain in his knee, he was still unconscious. For some reason it affected Sam more than usual, he started shaking, the coffee he had earlier threatening to come back. He swallowed hard. Hilly was rubbing his back, gentle circles.

"I'm ok," he said.

"Yeah. Ok. You look ok," she said with a grin. "I won't tell Dean about this if you don't tell him about my little breakdown, deal?"

"Deal."

They sat down in the chairs on opposite sides of the bed. Hilly took Dean's hand, she smiled at Sam. "He'll love this when he wakes up." She leaned back in the chair. "I think I'm going to sleep for a minute or two. Once he's awake he'll run us ragged."

Sam leaned back in his chair. It was fairly comfortable. He didn't really intend to fall asleep, but he hadn't had much sleep in the last fifty or so hours. Was that all it was? He wondered as he drifted off.

"Sam?" The voice pulled Sam from his sleep. "Sammy?" A little panic creeping into the voice.

"I'm here," he answered before he was even all the way awake. He got up and leaned against the bed. He saw Hilly sit up and put her other hand over Dean's. "Hey, welcome back."

"You ok?"

"Sure, Dean."

"Mary? Hilly?"

"Nice to know where I fall in the list," Hilly said with a grin. "Mary's fine, Dean. The only one who isn't is you. Surprise, surprise."

"How bad am I?" Dean looked at Sam, it looked like he was having a hard time keeping his eyes open. "My leg feels weird."

"You did something to it—they had to fix it. But you're not all that bad."

"For you," Hilly said.

"Bite me," Dean said, his eyes closing.

"Not here, we're in a hospital," she said, still holding his hand. She looked up at Sam and smiled.

"Get some sleep Dean," Sam said. "We'll be here when you wake up."

_TBC_

_A/N Thanks for reading! One more chapter to come--I haven't let Dean off this easy!_


	5. Chapter 5

**Bloodlines**

Chapter 5

Sam was headed back to the hospital. The last seventy-two hours had been pretty rough. Dean was still out of it—he woke briefly, but was disoriented from the head injury and the pain meds they were pumping into him in a steady stream. Hilly had suggested after the first twelve hours that they tag team it. Trading off in five or six hour shifts, that way they could both get some sleep and a hot shower, but there was someone with Dean twenty-four hours a day. Sam suspected that Hilly had made special arrangements somehow, the hospital staff just took it for granted that one of them was always there.

Sam pulled Hilly's car into "their" parking place—they always seemed to get the same one. They had started driving her car when they had heard of break-ins in the hospital lot. Hilly had said it was probably better to risk her car than "face the giant ball of snot if something happens to the Impala." Unfortunately for Sam, he didn't fit in her tiny car very well, if this went on much longer he was planning to take out the driver's seat and sit in the back to drive.

He stopped by the espresso stand and got lattes—that was also becoming a routine. Sally, the barista, knew him by name now. The rule was whoever was coming in to "start the shift" brought coffees for both. They would drink the coffee together, discuss any changes in Dean's condition and then whoever was "off shift" would leave. It felt like they had been doing it for years, it was settling into just the way of life for the two of them.

They usually spent the afternoons together in Dean's room. Talking or reading or watching TV. Hilly spent some time writing on her laptop. She had asked the paper for emergency family leave, but the owner had said as long as she kept the stories coming she could work out of the office. She was working on a story about the developers where Mary lived. She would occasionally chuckle maliciously as she wrote, she was planning, as she put it, "to nail them to the wall with a six inch spike." She had told Sam that violating an archaeological site in Arizona was a major crime and she muttered occasionally about breaking a potentially award-winning story.

She looked up when he walked into the room. "Hey," she took the coffee. "Thanks."

"Any change?"

"He woke up about three hours ago, but it was the usual thing," she said with a sad sigh. It had been the same for the last three days, Dean woke up every three or four hours, he would ask the same questions and drop back off. It was like his brain was stuck in a loop. The doctor had said something about brain damage—Sam and Hilly were both getting very worried.

"I had hoped that once they backed the pain meds off he would improve," Sam said.

"Yeah me, too. Maybe we just need to give it time" she said giving his arm a gentle squeeze. "I'll be back at 2, I need to drop the first part of my story off at the paper, then I'll be home, if you need me." She smiled at him and left.

Sam sat down in the chair by the bed. He pulled out the book he had been reading, but after a few minutes he realized that the words were going by, he had been turning the pages, but nothing had actually made it into his brain. He shut the book with a sigh and started pacing. It was fifteen paces from the door to the window, thirty small ones and if he really stretched he could do it in eight large ones. He also knew there were 360 tiles in the ceiling, 321 tiles on the floor, the nurse came by once every forty-three minutes, it was fifty steps to the elevators and once on the main floor, eighty paces to the espresso stand. There were also 124 parking places in the lot visible from the window in Dean's room. He had stopped by the window and was recounting, in case they added one in the last six hours.

"Sam?"

He turned and walked over to the bed. "I'm here, Dean."

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Mary? Hilly?"

"They're fine too, Dean."

"My leg feels weird."

"You had to have surgery, Dean. There is a drain in it."

"What's wrong?" Dean asked, concern creeping into his voice. "I thought you said everyone was ok?"

Sam looked up, that wasn't part of the script that had been running these last three days. He realized that Dean was actually focused on him. "Everyone is ok. It's you we were worried about." Sam knew there was a really stupid smile spreading on his face.

"Me, why? I'm ok. When do I get to go?"

"Dean, dude, you are not going anywhere."

"Why not?"

"Dean…" He was at a loss for words. His brother drove him stark staring nuts sometimes.

"What?" Dean was still groggy, and he had started poking at his leg with one hand. "What's the IV for?"

"Primarily liquids so you don't die of dehydration, but they've had you on morphine since it happened."

"How could I possibly die of dehydration in one day, Sam?" he said in the scolding "big brother" voice.

"You couldn't. Not in one day—three and a half days are different."

That stopped the poking. Dean looked up at him, "What?"

"Three and a half days, actually it is eighty four hours and twelve minutes, to be precise."

"Don't jerk me around, Sam."

"I'm not. Three and a half days. You have been here that long, so you are damned well not leaving until the doc gives you the ok."

"They can't keep me against my will," Dean was starting to slur the words together, his eyes were starting to close again. "We'll discuss this when I wake up again, dude."

"I'll make sure Hilly is here for that one," Sam said.

Dean's eyes opened a tiny bit, "You wouldn't really do that, would you?"

"Bet on it, Dean."

"Bit…" the usual insult ended as Dean drifted off.

As soon as he was sure Dean was asleep he went into the hall and called Hilly.

"What is it?" She answered, concerned.

"He woke up, actually woke up," Sam said, hearing the immense relief in his voice. "Are you still there?" The other end was quiet.

"Yeah," her voice was soft, mirroring his relief.

"He wants to leave when he wakes up."

"I'll be back, I'll need to stop by the hardware store, though."

"What for?"

"Duct tape. We'll just tape him in bed. See if he leaves then," she said. Sam started to laugh, she was laughing, too. "Be there in about fifteen."

Six hours later and they had discussed Dean's prognosis with the doctor. He said that as long as Dean kept improving they could probably release him in another three days. The drain could come out first thing in the morning. They had also consumed four more large coffees each and were currently playing a slightly psychotic game of cards. Sam wasn't really sure what they were playing. They made up the rules as they went along and as the caffeine built up the rules were getting more and more complicated.

"Sam?" They both dropped their cards at the sound of Dean's voice.

"Yeah, Dean? We're here," Sam said stepping up to the bed, he could feel Hilly right beside him. "How are you feeling?"

"Like crap, my leg is aching a bit," he said.

"They lowered the dosage on your pain meds about twelve hours ago," Sam said.

"Still trying to convince me I've been here longer than overnight?"

"Yeah. Still trying."

"That's what we're here for, to force you to stay here longer than you want," Hilly said with a nasty edge to her voice, Sam turned to her with a frown.

Dean heard something else in her voice, however, "Oh, god, this isn't going to be some huge weepy chick flick is it?"

"This is nothing of the kind," Hilly said taking his hand. "This is an intervention. You are going to lie there like a good boy or…or…" Sam noticed tears forming in her eyes, apparently Dean called it right.

"Or what?" Dean said.

"Or—or else. So there."

"Ooh, I'm scared now."

"You better be."

"I am, really I am," Dean said smiling at her.

"Whatever."

"Are you two finished?" Sam asked.

"Pretty much," Hilly said. "Dean?"

"Yep. At least for the time being."

"And he's not going to leave until the doctor says it's ok," Hilly said firmly, still holding Dean's hand. Sam noticed Dean's fingers had curled around her hand.

"Yep. Staying here until it's safe to leave," Dean said with a smirk.

The hospital ended up releasing Dean in two and a half days instead of the three the doctor had mentioned. Sam had a sneaking suspicion it was for the sanity of the hospital staff and had very little to do with his brother's health. Dean had been driving everyone crazy with his insistence he was fine and could leave at anytime. He loudly and repeatedly said he was just staying to keep the peace with Sam and Hilly.

He shut up when they brought in the crutches so he could try them out before he left. With the dizziness from the concussion and the pain from broken and badly bruised ribs he could not manage them. He ended up leaving the hospital in a wheelchair, a chair he was told he could be in for another three or four days, if not more. Sam was worried about the sudden lack of protest from his brother. He was meekly doing as he was told and even let Sam half lift him into the Impala when they left. When they got back to Hilly's that evening, he quietly asked if he could sit in the backyard before dinner.

Sam wandered out to sit with him after checking to see if Hilly needed any help. She chased him out the backdoor. "Go out, talk. Something's up," she said as she pushed him out the door.

"Hey," he said sitting down in the lawn chair next to his brother.

"Hey," Dean said looking over at him with a smile. "You come out on your own or were you pushed?"

"I was planning to come out before I was pushed," Sam said defensively. "I just thought I would see if she needed any help before I abandoned her."

"She's in pie-will-solve-everything mode, it's best to just get out of the way when she's like that," he said with a laugh.

"She did say something about making a pie," Sam smiled and then looked at Dean with a quizzical look. "Prickly pear pie?"

"Oh, god, really? That pie actually can solve everything. You're not kidding me are you?"

"How could I make that up?"

Dean sighed happily, "This day just got a lot better."

"Dean?"

"I'm ok, Sammy."

"I'm not so sure about that."

"I'm ok, Sam."

"You're ok?"

"Yep. I'm fine."

Sam changed tactics, "Ok, you're fine. I believe you Dean, except for one thing."

"What's that?"

"You let me carry you up the stairs," Sam said looking at him with his eyebrows up.

Dean deflated, "You win. I'm a little upset about the fact I am stuck in this damn chair. I might be a little annoyed about the whole still can't walk thing."

"It's only been a few days, the doctor said your knee would be fine."

"Doesn't make me less annoyed about it, Sammy."

Sam laughed, "Yeah. I can see that, but the whole meek thing doesn't really work for you, Dean."

"Probably not, but maybe if I am really quiet she won't bug me as much," Dean laughed. "And look—the meek thing—it's going to get us homemade pie. Prickly pear pie."

"You two want dinner?" Hilly said from the door.

"Sure," Sam stood up and pushed Dean towards the kitchen.

"I'd probably feel better if you brought dinner out to the backyard," Dean said softly.

"You will probably feel better without my foot up your ass, wheels."

"Yep. Definitely would."

A week after Dean got out of the hospital he was able to get around the house on the crutches. He was driving Sam to distraction. He would try, at least once or twice a day to walk with just a cane and would end up flat on his back. At first he would yell for Sam to help him up, but after suffering through several lectures about taking it easy, he would just wait until Sam came and found him and helped him back on his feet. Of course, Sam knew every time he fell, he was actually keeping a pretty close eye on his brother, but he also knew that Dean needed to try.

Dean was "crutching"—as he put it—around the backyard when Hilly came out.

"Hey, Katherine just called. She said Mary would like to come over and see you. Is that ok? Are you up to company?"

"Do you mean am I up to seeing someone other than the two of you? Hell, yes."

"You are so sweet, just too kind. They will be here in ten minutes. I told them you would want to see her."

"Then why did you ask? Just to see if you could make me squirm?"

"Have to get my entertainment somewhere," she said with a smile. Dean flipped her off, he was getting pretty good at doing that and still keeping his balance with the crutches.

"I am so going to kill her," Dean said to Sam when Hilly went back in the house.

"She said the same thing about you, not two hours ago."

"See? See how I suffer?"

"Come on let's go inside so you can be settled when they get here. If she grabs you the was she usually does you will end up in a heap on the floor."

Sam had just helped Dean onto the couch when they arrived. Mary came into the room, her eyes were wide. "Hi, Uncle Dean. How do you feel?" She walked over to Dean and stopped in front of him. She had a gift bag clutched in her hands.

"I'm fine, Mary. How are you feeling?"

"I'm good. I sleep in my room every night. She never comes back anymore."

"That's good. That's really good."

"You made her go away," she looked a little tearful, "But I was scared. You didn't wake up."

"I'm fine now. I just hit my head."

"Mama said you were in the hospital," she pronounced the word carefully, clearly going to the hospital was a very big deal to her.

"I'm out now. Sam and I are staying with Aunt Hilly for little while."

"You could stay with us if you didn't want to leave."

"Thank you, but Sam and I need to go home sometime." Sam looked at his brother, Dean was having trouble with the interview.

"What's in the bag?" Sam asked, trying to change the mood.

"Oh, I got these for you, to say thank you. I picked them out myself." She shoved the bag forward, into Dean's hands.

Sam watched Dean open the packages in the bag. One held a framed picture of Mary, the other a key chain.

"You can put your keys on it. I picked it out to match your car. I like black and silver."

"Me, too. Thank you, Mary."

"We don't want to tire Dean out too much," Hilly said from behind the couch. "You can come and see him again before he leaves. Ok, Mary?"

"Promise?"

"Promise," Dean said. Mary turned to leave, "hey, don't I get a hug?" Dean said leaning forward. Mary propelled herself into his arms, Sam heard him grunt as she came into contact with bruised ribs. He held her for a minute then let her go. She took her mother's hand and walked out of the room. She smiled back when she reached the door. "Bye Mary."

"Bye, Uncle Dean, see you real soon."

"Sure." The door closed behind them and Dean leaned back on the couch.

"You ok?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, just give me a minute, Sammy." Sam took the hint and he and Hilly headed into the kitchen, leaving Dean alone on the couch.

**Epilogue**

"Hey, the car's all packed," Sam said walking back into the living room. "We got everything?"

"I think so, just let me check the bedrooms again," Dean said walking carefully towards the back of the house. He was still using the cane, but he was much more sure on his feet than he had been even a week ago.

Sam watched him. He was walking better. But Sam was torn. He thought Dean still need a little more time to recuperate, but Dean wanted to get on the road again. After spending most of his life on the road nearly a month in one spot was almost unbearable. And Sam had to admit after three weeks of what he had begun to think of as the "Dean and Hilly Show" he was fairly ready to go, too. The two of them never quit. If they weren't picking on each other, they were picking on Sam. It was all good natured, even loving, but it never stopped. One day they had decided to drive the thirty-five miles to Laughlin, Nevada for dinner and gambling. Sam had nearly stranded the both of them in the middle of the desert before the night was over.

"Nope, looks like we got everything," Dean said coming into the room. "What?"

Sam realized he had been staring, lost in thought. "Nothing."

"Looks like we're packed and ready to go," Dean said to Hilly.

"Not quite," she handed him a packet. "Here, and don't try to not take them. Insurance cards, if you need them, and a credit card. It's in Dean Iommi's name, use it if you need it. And if I find out you needed either of those things and didn't use them…"

"You'll hunt me down and make a pretty purse out of my skin?"

"Yeah," she hooked her arm through his and they walked out to the car. They three of them stopped and stood together for a minute. "Mary expects you back for her fifth birthday in nine months."

"I know, we'll be here."

"Come hell or high water?" She said with a smile.

"Come hell or high water," Dean said with a laugh.

"Sam," she turned to him and pulled him into a hug. He returned it. He had grown very fond of Hilly in the past month. "I'll miss you, take care of yourself," she said.

"And Dean?" he whispered.

"Of course, he couldn't be in better hands," she squeezed a little tighter and released him. "Well?" She looked at Dean.

"Well, what?"

"Well, are you going to take care of yourself?"

"Yep."

"Liar."

"Bite me."

"How many times do I have to tell you not in front of Sam?" She laughed and hugged him, he returned the embrace. They stood that way for a long moment.

"Ok, Sammy," Dean said pulling gently away, he still had her hand in his. "Time to hit the road." He squeezed her hand and then dropped carefully into the passenger seat of the Impala. "See you in nine months. Talk to you soon."

"Yeah, keep safe, you two. Oh, and I put a new tape in the stereo. Enjoy."

Sam turned the car on and Black Sabbath began blaring out of the speakers. Hilly stood waving until they turned from the street.


End file.
